Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Chocolate Hug Cookies

When you live in Texas and it gets cold enough to turn your heater on and that heater smell of toasting lint (is that what it is?) wafts through your house it feels like Christmas. Or at least it does to me.

So here we go with my first Christmas cookie post of the season. Hooray commercialism! And malls! And sugar!

My hands down favorite cookie at the holidays (AT the holidays? Southern much?) are peanut blossoms. AKA chocolate kiss cookies or Hershey Kiss peanut butter cookies. My mom made them for us growing up and for me they are edible childhood. I honestly can't be trusted with them. An entire batch will disappear into thin air David Blaine-style.

The only problem is my husband isn't a fan. I try not to let this change my deep endearing love for him but it's tough. Who doesn't like peanut blossoms? WHO???

Anyway I recently had an idea to try and appease his tastes while keeping with my own traditions, now that we have a kid and all. He is a bonafide chocoholic so when I saw a few recipes for Nutella Kisses I thought - SCORE!

Well it was a score alright but of course there was a minor drawback. They didn't taste so much of Nutella as they did chocolate. Personally I thought this was a bonus given the fact a lot of people don't like Nutella. So I changed the name to something that reflected their intensely chocolate, chewily rewarding, chocolate-studded chocolate-kiss topped vibe.

Will they replace my personal favorite in the holiday lineup? We'll see. Actually the tie breaker will be when my son is old enough to taste between the two of them and choose. Though if his tastes are as similar to his father's as his looks are, I'm screwed.

Thankfully I like the alternative almost as much...

* As the picture indicates I made these for Halloween and rolled them in orange sugar before baking. If making for the holidays simply choose another color if desired.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder in a bowl. Mix with a whisk to break up any lumps.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Mix in vanilla and chocolate-hazelnut spread.

Slowly add in flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Use a small cookie scoop to keep the cookies a uniform size and roll each scoop of dough between your hands to form a ball. Roll the ball in sugar, if desired.

Bake in preheated oven until edges look dry and cookies are fragrant, about 8-9 minutes. Press a chocolate kiss in the center and let cool slightly on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Somewhere between the Foie Gras Connosieur and the T Bone Steak Bubba lies me - the Meat and Potatoes Foodie. The only thing I can't stand more than a food snob is someone who won't try something they've never eaten before (within limits of course - I'm still too chicken to try frog legs.) Pull up a chair, have a look around, and leave a comment or two. I love hearing from fellow foodies and friends!